May 22, 2021 • 14 mins
In this bonus episode, Director Julie Anne Robinson and Choreographer Jack Murphy piece together the magic of the pilot episode, including how the cast and crew channeled their own personal experiences to bring it all to the screen.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You absolutely spark was it's not come now, I'm really
simple the Minston, I'm pretty dressed like everyone else, exactly
like everyone else. Oh, I she needs to go and
visit the Penelope. That presentation was anything, but what was it?
The Queen called you again, flawless or some such thing.
Welcome to Bridgeton the official podcast. I'm your host, Gabrielle Collins,
(00:20):
and today we're doing things a little bit differently. So
from the very first episode of Bridgerton, there's a sense
of effervescence that we feel. We've talked about the design,
the history, and we just recently spoke with Kelly Valentine
Hendry about how the series was cast. In this bonus episode,
we've gotten never before heard clips from director Julianne Robinson
(00:42):
and choreographer Jack Murphy on what makes that pilot episode
feel so enigmatic. In case you need a quick reminder,
here's a snippet of where both Julie and Robinson and
Jack Murphy fit into the team. I'm Julianne Robinson and
(01:02):
I'm the director of Bridgeton. I directed episode one, which
meant that I was lucky enough to work very closely
with Chris Van Dusen, the wonderful Chris and Betsy Beers,
and obviously Shonda on making some of the key decisions
that were carried forward for the series. My name is
Jack Murphy and I am I'm very proud to say,
(01:25):
the choreographer of Bridgeton. I am also the movement director
of Bridgeton and a movement director. Who's somebody who collaborates
with directors and actors and writers aren't facilitating finding the
physical emotional truth of any given moment. So let's go
(01:58):
back to the pilot script. Julie and Robinson talks about
how complex these scripts were. The thing that I hoped
viewers would take from episode one is a kind of
a propulsive energy that you maybe are not used to
seeing in this context. I was hoping that it would
have a contemporary feel and that it would have a
certain swagger about it. It would announce itself strongly as
(02:22):
something that was unique to itself. It didn't draw particularly
on other influencers or tropes. It was kind of unique
because Chris's script for the pilot was unique. It was
very very layered, very very textured, and my ambition was
to capture all of those layers and richness and energy.
(02:43):
We have something called seven states of energy when we
teach movement. An energy state Number three is economic. So
if you have a good waiter when they put your
food down, okay, they don't say, oh, you know, I
really love that sweatshirt you're wearing, that's all of a
sudden dramatic because they're in it, you're involved in it.
So the same thing applies to regency man and women.
(03:04):
You know, you do not want to bring attention to yourself,
and more importantly, you do not want to embarrass anyone
by bringing attention to them. So we did this workshop
and it was fantastic, and then we did more workshops
with the supporting artist. So then in the movement they
started to realize that I have this very strange language
(03:25):
that I work as a movement director. This is my analysis.
What is the meaning of the move I turned the
word around movement. What's meant by the move and all
movement is an emanation of thought. And that connects to
the writer, because what is writing but an emanation of thought.
Chris writes in a way that's very unlike any other
(03:47):
writer that I've worked with in that it is so detailed,
so that you have to read it at least three
or four times to get every meaning that he is intended.
It becomes actually quite exhausting as a director because there's
so much nuance in the script, and there'll be something
(04:08):
embedded in the middle of some stage directions that is
super specific, like the ladies are holding dogs, for example,
but it's it's something that is so textured, but it's
right in the middle of a dense piece of stage
direction that if you're not really really careful, you might
miss it or might then miss the nuance of it.
(04:28):
So that's as a director, it's that's a different challenge
in order to realize the brilliant imaginations of you know,
Julia and Chris, but also to collaborate with my fantastic
directors and extraordinary actors. But primarily because my audience, you know,
the audience has to be considered first and foremost. You know,
(04:52):
I write the dances because on the paper it says
they dance, it doesn't say what they dance. I have
to write what they dance, and then I have to
write how they dance, and I was encouraged to do so.
So it was an extraordinary journey at fifty eight years
of age, having been in this business thirty two years.
That made me feel very vulnerable, but that's often when
(05:13):
you produce your best work. I have to tell you
what Garry out at the Danbury Bar. I mean, all
my dancers are commercial dancers. They're not bor on dancers,
and they're not actors per se. Okay, So one of
the biggest jobs is that I had to work on
the direction of their acting whilst dancing. The underlying principles
(05:36):
of the acting and the emotions carrying the work is
always the same. It's just that the building blocks are
either bigger or smaller. So it was just almost putting
it all together like a big jigsaw puzzle. When we
come back, Jack and Julie explain why the magic we
(05:56):
see on screen is really about personal emotional journeys from
the cast and crew that worked so hard behind the scenes.
Stick around. This is bridget In the official podcast, and
you're listening to a bonus episode with Bridgetin director Julianne
(06:16):
Robinson and choreographer Jack Murphy. Let's pick up where we
left out. It's almost on an our charatic level. So
to realize the action through dancing of romance. That's incredibly
difficult to do because you're asking people to be personal
and to be personal about romance. You have to be
personal about love, and you're asking people to reveal their
(06:39):
own experiences of love, and people very very vulnerable when
they do and romantic. So coming back to the energy,
it's not dramatic, it's another level because we're lifted. It's
bigger than you know. It's not casual. You feel lifted,
you feel transported. That's why it's so raunchy. That's why
it's so excited, and that's why it's so it's got
(07:02):
a little bit of a twist to it. There is
a sense and a connection to higher self. That's what
I felt. Our leads did so brilliantly that you know,
they overcame their own personal experiences of love and rejection
to take us on a journey of the very two
greatest emotions. You know, I was very interested in the
(07:23):
relationship between Simon and Daphne because you know, they stopped
themselves from experiencing love and I fell in love. I've
been in loved once, I've had one partner. And I
met them dancing and they left and they went to
live in Australia, and I've never I've never had a
partner since, so, you know, even though I'm much older,
I went on the journey with Simon and Daphne. You're
(07:45):
playing around with one of the greatest, greatest emotions. This
is very melodramatic, melodrama meaning the grand emotions. Love is
a grand emotion, and so I was living my own
experiences of love while making Bridget and I think people
invested collectively on a personal level to do so. Jack
(08:10):
and Julianne also found their stride together behind the scenes.
So listen to the story about how they met. It
was a great interview, and it was an hysterical interview.
Chris sat and he did, so could you give me
some examples how you would modernize? And I went, yeah,
I could actually, by which time I'd relax. So I
made Julianne Robinson stand up and dance with me an interview,
(08:33):
and her face she didn't know what hit her, really,
because even though I knew that she had been a
theater director. I mean, she's a fabulessly strong woman, you know,
do you know she used to be a boxer. She
was an amazing athlete, wonderful athlete, and so I took
her in my arms and I spun around and she
roll so I moved her because she had asked me
to explain what a quadrille was, and then I said,
(08:54):
you know, it's like a two minute speed date these answers,
and Betsy's said, this is you know, it goes down
a history for me. She said, yeah, it is, isn't it.
It's like swiping on your phone. She said, like you
said in the in the quadrille you have top couples
and bottom couples. I said, I said top and side,
not top and bottom. She's sorry. I was thinking of
(09:16):
grinder and I scored the last and I just kind
of thought, now this is my world, Oh my gosh,
and the rest of the team. How did everyone work
together and find that kind of immediate chemistry. Betsy makes
(09:40):
you believe that you can do it, Like I always remember,
she said to me, Now we've got you, We've got Jeff, Joe.
I've got absolutely no worries about this at all. I'm
not even remotely worried about it. Just if you go,
this is going to be great. You know, you've got
no idea how empowering it is to hear those words.
She has this complete confidence in you and the team
(10:03):
that she's put together, and so therefore she's empowering. She's
not a hindrance to progress. She wants you to do
what you want to do. And she's also a great
sounding board creatively. I think she's a real creative force,
but she doesn't impose that on you. She's never obstructive
(10:26):
in terms of her creativity. It's a really unusual mix,
and every single time I've worked with her, I have
felt empowered, you know, and stronger because she's there as
a supportive force. I truly believe, and I'm not trying
to be poetic, but this job the stars aligned for me.
(10:49):
This job was meant to be. And as you say,
I developed, you know, I'm not a show choreographer. I
wouldn't be doing West Side Story. We look at me
kind of thing. How is he choregraph? So one of
the biggest thrills on Bridgeton was a cause for me
personally having and this is why it's very very personal,
the lights of Chris Fantis and the lights of Tom
(11:11):
Verker having men support me. So I was having a
personal journey on it. That's why I'm saying, you know,
I I started to have men believe in me creatively
for me to be put into a position of holding
such responsibility and being celebrated on the set. You know,
(11:32):
the lights of Chris and the lights of Tom, and
you know I turned to them a great deal. I
can't do it. I can't do it. I'm not a
show for the twenty four dances. But Chris and Tom
just really guided me, encouraging me to take it personal
that actually, I've got to start believing in myself a
(11:54):
great deal more in order to get away from my
own rejection. Got to stop rejecting myself. Shanda was across
every creative decision that was made, but again, she's incredibly
(12:14):
supportive of the people on the ground and of those
creative decisions. Chanda Land's just an amazing company to work with.
From a direct point of view. They're always there for you.
They're there for you emotionally, they're there for you physically.
If you want somebody to come over and you feel like, hey,
I've got a few really big days here, I want
(12:35):
somebody on the ground with me, they'll literally fly over.
And they're a really remarkable company to work for. From
I've been blessed for all these years. I mean, this
is what Shanda does, This is what Schanda does, this
is what she writes, That's what Chris writes. And it's
honestly my job to make those relationships more than anything else,
(12:57):
more than all the rapping and the glitter, her and
the color, more than any of that, is just to
let those people talk to us across the centuries. That's
what I see my role as everybody on this show
works so hard together and you have to find your way,
(13:20):
and you know we're going to actually hear more about
that kind of teamwork and relationship building. Keep your eyes
on the podcast feeds because we've also got more bonus
episodes coming and as always, dear listeners, thank you for listening. Bridgerton.
The Official Podcast is executive produced by Lauren Holman, Sandy Bailey,
Holly Fry and me Gabrielle Collins. Our producer is Chris
(13:40):
Van Duson, and our editor is Vincent de Johnny Bridgeton.
The Official Podcast is a production of Shondaland Audio in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your
favorite shows,
You absolutely spark was it's not come now, I'm really
simple the Minston, I'm pretty dressed like everyone else, exactly
like everyone else. Oh, I she needs to go and
visit the Penelope. That presentation was anything, but what was it?
The Queen called you again, flawless or some such thing.
Welcome to Bridgeton the official podcast. I'm your host, Gabrielle Collins,
(00:20):
and today we're doing things a little bit differently. So
from the very first episode of Bridgerton, there's a sense
of effervescence that we feel. We've talked about the design,
the history, and we just recently spoke with Kelly Valentine
Hendry about how the series was cast. In this bonus episode,
we've gotten never before heard clips from director Julianne Robinson
(00:42):
and choreographer Jack Murphy on what makes that pilot episode
feel so enigmatic. In case you need a quick reminder,
here's a snippet of where both Julie and Robinson and
Jack Murphy fit into the team. I'm Julianne Robinson and
(01:02):
I'm the director of Bridgeton. I directed episode one, which
meant that I was lucky enough to work very closely
with Chris Van Dusen, the wonderful Chris and Betsy Beers,
and obviously Shonda on making some of the key decisions
that were carried forward for the series. My name is
Jack Murphy and I am I'm very proud to say,
(01:25):
the choreographer of Bridgeton. I am also the movement director
of Bridgeton and a movement director. Who's somebody who collaborates
with directors and actors and writers aren't facilitating finding the
physical emotional truth of any given moment. So let's go
(01:58):
back to the pilot script. Julie and Robinson talks about
how complex these scripts were. The thing that I hoped
viewers would take from episode one is a kind of
a propulsive energy that you maybe are not used to
seeing in this context. I was hoping that it would
have a contemporary feel and that it would have a
certain swagger about it. It would announce itself strongly as
(02:22):
something that was unique to itself. It didn't draw particularly
on other influencers or tropes. It was kind of unique
because Chris's script for the pilot was unique. It was
very very layered, very very textured, and my ambition was
to capture all of those layers and richness and energy.
(02:43):
We have something called seven states of energy when we
teach movement. An energy state Number three is economic. So
if you have a good waiter when they put your
food down, okay, they don't say, oh, you know, I
really love that sweatshirt you're wearing, that's all of a
sudden dramatic because they're in it, you're involved in it.
So the same thing applies to regency man and women.
(03:04):
You know, you do not want to bring attention to yourself,
and more importantly, you do not want to embarrass anyone
by bringing attention to them. So we did this workshop
and it was fantastic, and then we did more workshops
with the supporting artist. So then in the movement they
started to realize that I have this very strange language
(03:25):
that I work as a movement director. This is my analysis.
What is the meaning of the move I turned the
word around movement. What's meant by the move and all
movement is an emanation of thought. And that connects to
the writer, because what is writing but an emanation of thought.
Chris writes in a way that's very unlike any other
(03:47):
writer that I've worked with in that it is so detailed,
so that you have to read it at least three
or four times to get every meaning that he is intended.
It becomes actually quite exhausting as a director because there's
so much nuance in the script, and there'll be something
(04:08):
embedded in the middle of some stage directions that is
super specific, like the ladies are holding dogs, for example,
but it's it's something that is so textured, but it's
right in the middle of a dense piece of stage
direction that if you're not really really careful, you might
miss it or might then miss the nuance of it.
(04:28):
So that's as a director, it's that's a different challenge
in order to realize the brilliant imaginations of you know,
Julia and Chris, but also to collaborate with my fantastic
directors and extraordinary actors. But primarily because my audience, you know,
the audience has to be considered first and foremost. You know,
(04:52):
I write the dances because on the paper it says
they dance, it doesn't say what they dance. I have
to write what they dance, and then I have to
write how they dance, and I was encouraged to do so.
So it was an extraordinary journey at fifty eight years
of age, having been in this business thirty two years.
That made me feel very vulnerable, but that's often when
(05:13):
you produce your best work. I have to tell you
what Garry out at the Danbury Bar. I mean, all
my dancers are commercial dancers. They're not bor on dancers,
and they're not actors per se. Okay, So one of
the biggest jobs is that I had to work on
the direction of their acting whilst dancing. The underlying principles
(05:36):
of the acting and the emotions carrying the work is
always the same. It's just that the building blocks are
either bigger or smaller. So it was just almost putting
it all together like a big jigsaw puzzle. When we
come back, Jack and Julie explain why the magic we
(05:56):
see on screen is really about personal emotional journeys from
the cast and crew that worked so hard behind the scenes.
Stick around. This is bridget In the official podcast, and
you're listening to a bonus episode with Bridgetin director Julianne
(06:16):
Robinson and choreographer Jack Murphy. Let's pick up where we
left out. It's almost on an our charatic level. So
to realize the action through dancing of romance. That's incredibly
difficult to do because you're asking people to be personal
and to be personal about romance. You have to be
personal about love, and you're asking people to reveal their
(06:39):
own experiences of love, and people very very vulnerable when
they do and romantic. So coming back to the energy,
it's not dramatic, it's another level because we're lifted. It's
bigger than you know. It's not casual. You feel lifted,
you feel transported. That's why it's so raunchy. That's why
it's so excited, and that's why it's so it's got
(07:02):
a little bit of a twist to it. There is
a sense and a connection to higher self. That's what
I felt. Our leads did so brilliantly that you know,
they overcame their own personal experiences of love and rejection
to take us on a journey of the very two
greatest emotions. You know, I was very interested in the
(07:23):
relationship between Simon and Daphne because you know, they stopped
themselves from experiencing love and I fell in love. I've
been in loved once, I've had one partner. And I
met them dancing and they left and they went to
live in Australia, and I've never I've never had a
partner since, so, you know, even though I'm much older,
I went on the journey with Simon and Daphne. You're
(07:45):
playing around with one of the greatest, greatest emotions. This
is very melodramatic, melodrama meaning the grand emotions. Love is
a grand emotion, and so I was living my own
experiences of love while making Bridget and I think people
invested collectively on a personal level to do so. Jack
(08:10):
and Julianne also found their stride together behind the scenes.
So listen to the story about how they met. It
was a great interview, and it was an hysterical interview.
Chris sat and he did, so could you give me
some examples how you would modernize? And I went, yeah,
I could actually, by which time I'd relax. So I
made Julianne Robinson stand up and dance with me an interview,
(08:33):
and her face she didn't know what hit her, really,
because even though I knew that she had been a
theater director. I mean, she's a fabulessly strong woman, you know,
do you know she used to be a boxer. She
was an amazing athlete, wonderful athlete, and so I took
her in my arms and I spun around and she
roll so I moved her because she had asked me
to explain what a quadrille was, and then I said,
(08:54):
you know, it's like a two minute speed date these answers,
and Betsy's said, this is you know, it goes down
a history for me. She said, yeah, it is, isn't it.
It's like swiping on your phone. She said, like you
said in the in the quadrille you have top couples
and bottom couples. I said, I said top and side,
not top and bottom. She's sorry. I was thinking of
(09:16):
grinder and I scored the last and I just kind
of thought, now this is my world, Oh my gosh,
and the rest of the team. How did everyone work
together and find that kind of immediate chemistry. Betsy makes
(09:40):
you believe that you can do it, Like I always remember,
she said to me, Now we've got you, We've got Jeff, Joe.
I've got absolutely no worries about this at all. I'm
not even remotely worried about it. Just if you go,
this is going to be great. You know, you've got
no idea how empowering it is to hear those words.
She has this complete confidence in you and the team
(10:03):
that she's put together, and so therefore she's empowering. She's
not a hindrance to progress. She wants you to do
what you want to do. And she's also a great
sounding board creatively. I think she's a real creative force,
but she doesn't impose that on you. She's never obstructive
(10:26):
in terms of her creativity. It's a really unusual mix,
and every single time I've worked with her, I have
felt empowered, you know, and stronger because she's there as
a supportive force. I truly believe, and I'm not trying
to be poetic, but this job the stars aligned for me.
(10:49):
This job was meant to be. And as you say,
I developed, you know, I'm not a show choreographer. I
wouldn't be doing West Side Story. We look at me
kind of thing. How is he choregraph? So one of
the biggest thrills on Bridgeton was a cause for me
personally having and this is why it's very very personal,
the lights of Chris Fantis and the lights of Tom
(11:11):
Verker having men support me. So I was having a
personal journey on it. That's why I'm saying, you know,
I I started to have men believe in me creatively
for me to be put into a position of holding
such responsibility and being celebrated on the set. You know,
(11:32):
the lights of Chris and the lights of Tom, and
you know I turned to them a great deal. I
can't do it. I can't do it. I'm not a
show for the twenty four dances. But Chris and Tom
just really guided me, encouraging me to take it personal
that actually, I've got to start believing in myself a
(11:54):
great deal more in order to get away from my
own rejection. Got to stop rejecting myself. Shanda was across
every creative decision that was made, but again, she's incredibly
(12:14):
supportive of the people on the ground and of those
creative decisions. Chanda Land's just an amazing company to work with.
From a direct point of view. They're always there for you.
They're there for you emotionally, they're there for you physically.
If you want somebody to come over and you feel like, hey,
I've got a few really big days here, I want
(12:35):
somebody on the ground with me, they'll literally fly over.
And they're a really remarkable company to work for. From
I've been blessed for all these years. I mean, this
is what Shanda does, This is what Schanda does, this
is what she writes, That's what Chris writes. And it's
honestly my job to make those relationships more than anything else,
(12:57):
more than all the rapping and the glitter, her and
the color, more than any of that, is just to
let those people talk to us across the centuries. That's
what I see my role as everybody on this show
works so hard together and you have to find your way,
(13:20):
and you know we're going to actually hear more about
that kind of teamwork and relationship building. Keep your eyes
on the podcast feeds because we've also got more bonus
episodes coming and as always, dear listeners, thank you for listening. Bridgerton.
The Official Podcast is executive produced by Lauren Holman, Sandy Bailey,
Holly Fry and me Gabrielle Collins. Our producer is Chris
(13:40):
Van Duson, and our editor is Vincent de Johnny Bridgeton.
The Official Podcast is a production of Shondaland Audio in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your
favorite shows,
Host
Gabrielle Collins
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